15th February 2023 – Leading UK leisure provider Parkwood Leisure has received grant funding from the ReTrain to ReTain programme to invest a total of £54,850 into upskilling swimming managers and teachers at its pools across the country.

The programme is funded by Sport England (via National Lottery) and administered by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).

33 swimming managers have been enrolled on Swim England’s SEQ Level 3 Swim Coordinator qualification. The intensive course, which is delivered by the Institute of Swimming (IOS), is designed to develop individuals’ leadership skills, while maximising pool performance and improving the customer experience across Parkwood’s swimming pools.

This is the second swim campaign that Parkwood has partnered with CIMSPA on, following support last year to retain and retrain swimming teachers as part of the ReTrain offering, a £1.5m training initiative funded by The National Lottery through Sport England.

The recruitment and training drive came as Parkwood Leisure announced a 50% increase in children on its swim programme compared to pre-pandemic levels, resulting in the recruitment of more than 285 new swimming teachers.

With the support from the Institute of Swimming, Parkwood Leisure is the first organisation in the industry to upskill swimming managers on this scale, helping to maximise each swimming pool’s potential and facilitate more people learning to swim.

Glen Hall, Managing Director at Parkwood Leisure is confident that the investment will benefit the communities that Parkwood serves:

“The wellbeing and safety of our members is at the heart of everything we do at Parkwood Leisure and by upskilling our swimming teachers, we’re able to provide a better, more inclusive and safer service to users of our swimming pools.

We’re also proud to support the development of our swimming teachers and help them to take the next steps in their career. The investment reinforces our swimming morals, emphasising the importance of swimming ‘Safer, Smarter and Stronger’, and we’re certain this will have a truly positive impact, providing better access to swimming facilities for all the communities we serve.”

Rebecca Cox, Swim England Business Engagement Director and Institute of Swimming Managing Director added:

“Parkwood’s investment in its swim coordinator aquatics workforce shows a real desire to evolve and develop both its people and its learn to swim programmes.

Not only will this commitment to their coordinators create a more professional and defined career path for all, encouraging the aquatic workforce to commit to Parkwood on a long-term basis, it will also ensure the standard of lessons and customer experiences are the very best they can be.

We are looking forward to seeing Parkwood benefit from what will hopefully be a more engaged, knowledgeable and passionate workforce.”

Catherine Kane, Programme Manager at CIMSPA concluded: “We’re delighted to have worked in partnership with Parkwood Leisure for a second time through the ReTrain to ReTain (R2R) programme and to have had some great successes once again.  

The R2R programme is part of a Sport England plan to invest £5m of National Lottery funding into job retention and support for up to 25,000 sport and physical activity professionals. Following a Skills Diagnostic with the CIMSPA partnership team, Parkwood Leisure identified key gaps in their workforce and utilised ReTrain funding to fill them and address skills shortages across their leisure network. 

These new roles will help to make sure that all of the centres in their network will have the staff that they need to effectively help more people to get and stay active across the country. We look forward to seeing their further successes in the future.” 

–ENDS–